why you all jumping on AP back she right instead of promoting Trinidad as a paradise promote it for what it is becoming sings songs of being robbed in you home , shot in the streets, women raped and strangled , bullies being breed in schools,the country being robbed by the persons they put in charge. criminals have no fear of the police. By as they sing we jamming still

Things have to be sad when you have people rejoicing for a drive by shooting because they honestly believe that it will have a more significant impact on crime that the police service.

Before people jump on my case, please take note of the following.1. I'm not saying that I rejoicing in people death.2. I'm not saying the criminals should have or should not have been shot.3. I'm not commenting on the TTPS effectiveness.

All I'm saying is things clearly real sad right now if this is the point that we reach. Looking forward to hear what country we can say we not as bad as yet next.

Slartibartfast wrote:Things have to be sad when you have people rejoicing for a drive by shooting because they honestly believe that it will have a more significant impact on crime that the police service.

Before people jump on my case, please take note of the following.1. I'm not saying that I rejoicing in people death.2. I'm not saying the criminals should have or should not have been shot.3. I'm not commenting on the TTPS effectiveness.

All I'm saying is things clearly real sad right now if this is the point that we reach. Looking forward to hear what country we can say we not as bad as yet next.

It also sad that you have to defend yourself on the forum after making a sensible statement!

hong kong phooey wrote:why you all jumping on AP back she right instead of promoting Trinidad as a paradise promote it for what it is becoming sings songs of being robbed in you home , shot in the streets, women raped and strangled , bullies being breed in schools,the country being robbed by the persons they put in charge. criminals have no fear of the police. By as they sing we jamming still

A shooting incident in the Western Division tonight has left three people dead and two others injured.

While up to 11 p.m. full details were unavailable, the Express was reliably informed that the incident took place in the vicinity of Le Platte Village, Maraval, about 8 p.m.

Police said eight persons were liming along the roadway when a Nissan motor vehicle pulled up alongside them. A man was the seen pointing a firearm in the direction of the group, and there was a brief exchange of words.

Several loud explosions were then heard following which the vehicle sped off. Five people were shot while three others were said to have received superficial injuries.

The police and Emergency Health Services were notified and a team of officers from the Western Division and the Homicide Bureau responded.

The shot persons have been identified as Collin Letren, Kayode Critchlow, Joel Le Platte, Dominique Le Platte, and Dayna Le Platte. The other injured persons have not been identified.

Letren, 25, and Critchlow, 24, died shortly after the shooting incident. Joel Le Platte, police said, was shot in the head, and was non responsive. He was rushed to the Port of Spain General Hospital but had to be transferred to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex as the CT scanner is out of order. 35-year-old Joel Le Platte died from his injuries at the EWMSC.

Dayna Le Platte was said to have been shot in the buttocks, while Dominque was said to have received injuries to her legs. The entire Le Platte community is said to have been “under lockdown” by officers of the Western Division Task Force, as they search for the killers.

While on patrol about 10.30 p.m., officers received reports of another shooting incident, this time in Diego Martin. Up to 11 p.m., the status of the victims – said to be two men – was not known.

Dayna Le Platte, 21, one of the survivors of Thursday night’s gun attack in Maraval where three people were killed, was yesterday thanking God for life.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian while getting her wound dressed at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH), Le Platte, who was shot in the hip - with the bullet entering the right side and exited on the left -, said she was on her way to her mother’s house when the drive-by shooting occurred.

“I had just walked out of my boyfriend’s house and was on my way to my mummy’s place when I was shot and I am talking about just within a five seconds of leaving by my boyfriend,” Le Platte said.

Her cousin, Dominique, 20, was shot in the left shoulder but was also said to be doing well. She was expected to be discharged last night.

Yesterday, Dayna said she was severely traumatised by the incident.

“This crime situation is terrible and in my case I was in the wrong place at the wrong time but I am thanking God for life,” she said with a sigh of relief.

Dayna’s cousin, Joel “Joe Dog” Le Platte, 35, was one of the three men killed in the attack, which occurred along the Morne Coco Road in Le Platte Village. He was the father of two and was described as a sweetheart by his mother, who did not wish to comment further on the incident.

But Joel’s father, Thomas, told the T&T Guardian yesterday that this was the second of his children to be killed. The first incident took place ten years ago where his son, Declan, was killed during a robbery.

Thomas admitted that besides Joel selling drugs as a part-time job, he was not involved in any gangs and was never arrested and charged for anything illegal.

“Joel was not a criminal, a thief. He was a weed pusher. He worked for the government but when he get a little time he does push marijuana, but he was never arrested for any gun-related offences.

“He was not the most honest child in the world, but in this case he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time because from what we heard they (the gunman) was looking for someone else,” Thomas said.

Shortly after 8 pm, Joel was among a group of people liming in a yard just off the Morne Coco Road when a blue B-14 vehicle drove up. The car slowed down and an occupant with a sub-machine gun opened fire on the group.

Le Platte later died at hospital while Collin “Circle Boy” Letren, 25, and Kuanda “Bag Up” Critchlow, 24, were killed on the scene.

Speaking with the T&T Guardian at the Forensic Science Centre (FSC), a relative of Joel said he was shot in the head. The relative said the bullet lodged in his head, which was already swelling by the time they transferred him from the PoSGH to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mount Hope to get a CT Scan done.

“For two hours he waited to get the scan done but he didn’t make it,” the relative added.

Relatives of Letren and Critchlow were also at the FSC yesterday, but did not give any interviews to the media.

When the T&T Guardian visited the house where the shooting took place, its occupants described it as a real tragedy.

“None of them lived here, but usually they would all come here and lime right in front by the road. Some of them would sit on the wall or on the pavement or just stand around and lime. They eat something, drink something and take their little smoke,” one resident said.

Another resident, who wished not to be identified, said he heard there was a death threat to Letren and believed the gunman got information as to where he was at that time.

“We hearing that they out to kill him (Letren) long time but they take other innocent lives too, which is so unfair and usually there is a lot of children that play in the yard there. Thank God none of them was there at the time of the shooting because they could have been killed too.”

The resident added that an eight-year-old girl actually escaped the spray of bullets after she had just crossed the road to show her grandmother a piece of paper she had in her possession.

Investigating police officers said the weapon used in the attack was a high-powered sub-machine gun as it left behind several deep bullet holes in the concrete perimeter wall of the residence. Officers said they are still gathering evidence but believe the attack was gang-related and that the gunman’s target was Letren.

The father just being honest. He said his son wasn't the most honest person in the world so at least he not trying to fool anyone. I find it funny how people focusing more on a weed pusher that the man the open shots on a group of people where he could have potentially murdered children.

Anyway, I agree we should focus on problems we could solve, like dead weed pushers instead of potential mass murderers running free.